Energy storage was such a hot topic at the recent Energy Now Expo that demonstrations sessions were over run - and the walls had to be taken down to let more people in.

This sudden excitement in energy storage is due to technological advancements in the field of renewable energy, which could lead to new revenue streams for farmers.

The system works by storing energy for use at peak times, when it's most expensive to purchase, and by selling power back to the grid during those

times.

Anyone with a spare acre or two of land can build a commercial scale storage facility, which could lead to profits in just three to eight years.

Nina Skorupska CBE, chief executive for the Renewable Energy Association (REA), said: "Energy Storage is coming of age

“Depending on the business model, investing in storage could be making farmers money in the next three to eight years."

Peter Robinson, senior energy specialist at Carter Jonas, said: "It doesn’t need to be on good quality land, it can be on a brownfield site or scrubland"

Ray Noble, senior advisor for solar and storage at the REA, said: "All capacity can be put into battery storage and be sold to the grid at an appropriate time, at certain times of the day it can make up to six times more than other times.

"Ground mounted solar is the cheapest to install and when working in tandem with a storage facility, it could lead to self-sufficiency in terms of electricity. Solar will become even more important in the near future"

Chris Brooks, a renewable energy engineer from Westflight, said: "The dash for cash is over.

“Solar’s most viable if you have a large on-site consumption. We’re now adding in battery storage at the farm in order to cover the night time hours and even without subsidy, this will pay,”

Energy storage was hugely popular with numerous farmers attending specially to hear about it. If you think about a solar scheme on a dairy farm, a lot of power is being produced while farmers aren’t using it, during the day when they might be working elsewhere in between milking sessions.

Energy storage was just one of many exciting topics of interest brought up at the event, conference sessions were put on for every different type of renewable energy.

The impact of Brexit on the renewables sector as well as the continued development of the sector in a low or post-subsidy world where discussed in depth throughout the show.